VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 28, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NovaCopper Inc. (TSX:NCQ) (NYSE-MKT:NCQ) ("NovaCopper" or "the Company") has filed a National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") resource report (the "Report") on the Ruby Creek Zone of the Bornite deposit for its Upper Kobuk Mineral Project ("UKMP") located in the highly prospective Ambler mining district of northwest Alaska. As previously announced by the Company on July 18, 2012, the Report identified Indicated Resources at Ruby Creek of approximately 180 million pounds of copper and Inferred Resources of approximately 885 million pounds of copper. The Report was compiled by Mr. Bruce Davis, FAusIMM, the president of BD Resource Consulting Inc. The Report has been filed on SEDAR and EDGAR and is also available on the Company's website at www.novacopper.com.
Highlights - At a 0.5% copper cutoff grade, the Ruby Creek Zone contains:
- Indicated Resources of 6.8 million tonnes at 1.19% Cu for 178.7 million lbs of contained copper.
- Inferred Resources of 47.7 million tonnes of 0.84% Cu for 883.2 million lbs of contained copper.
Table 1. Bornite Deposit - Ruby Creek Zone Resources
|%Cu||(millions)||% Cu||(millions)||(millions)||% Cu||(millions)|
- Base Case is 0.5% Cu cut-off grade
- Mineral Resources are not Mineral Reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. There is no certainty that all or any part of the Mineral Resources will be converted into Mineral Reserves.
- Resources stated as contained within a manually constructed potentially economic resource limiting pit shell using metal price of US$3.00 per lb Cu, mining costs of US$1.50 per tonne, processing costs of US$10.00 per tonne, 100% recoveries and an average pit slope of 45 degrees.
- Mineral resource tonnage and contained metal have been rounded to reflect the accuracy of the estimate, and numbers may not add due to rounding.